Enhancing Life: From Donor to Recipient
The Cycle of Tissue Donation & Transplantation

1) The Ultimate Gift -- Life
It all begins with the ultimate gift.
By signing a donor card and sharing your wishes with your family, the lives of more than 100 people can be enhanced or saved through organ and tissue transplantation. Donor families make the decision to donate life by giving permission to recover organs and tissues. Strom Bryson was a 17-year-old whose life was tragically ended in a car accident. Strom's mother, Martha found comfort knowing that even in death her son would be able to enhance the lives of others as Strom was both an organ and tissue donor. In memory of his life, the Strom Bryson Memorial Quilt was created to offer families a way to memorialize their loved ones who donated life.

2) The Gift is Maximized
Following the surgical tissue recovery, tissue is entrusted to reputable allograft processing companies that provide safe and effective allografts for transplantation. The combination of technology and science applied to tissue ensures that more patients are able to benefit from the donation.

3) Life is Enhanced. The Gift is Realized.
More than 1,000,000 tissue transplants are performed each year to enhance quality of life for patients. From life-saving heart valve surgery, to spine surgery, knee surgery and even urological surgery, the uses of tissue is expanding in the medical field. Pictured are a few patient successes that explain how a donation is applied to enhance life.

Benefits of Tissue Donation: Tissue Transplant Recipients
Tissue donation is life-enhancing and life-saving. The gift from a single donor can touch the lives of 100 or more people. Skin transplants can save lives for burn patients; corneas can restore sight and prevent blindness. Bone and soft tissue transplants help repair defects, eliminate or reduce pain, and promote faster healing. One person's gift is a miracle for many, enabling those who would not live a normal life to have a second chance.

Sarah Jobe suffered from curvature of the spine (scoliosis) and could not participate in many activities. Bone chips were used in surgery to help restore her spine so she could live a pain-free, active life.

Trent Robinson was severely burned over most of his body in a helicopter accident. His surgeons attribute donated skin in helping to save his life. Today, Trent leads a normal life and volunteers his talents as a pilot to help others.

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